




by Conifeather



Category: Warriors
Genre: Suspense, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-30
Updated: 2019-10-30
Packaged: 2020-11-07 21:25:03
Rating: T
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,375
Publisher: www.fanfiction.net
Story URL: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13421048/1/
Author URL: https://www.fanfiction.net/u/10838320/Conifeather
Summary: A short Halloween tale of a murder, the coming of leaf-bare, and a very watery leaf-scented spirit. (cross-posted on WFF)





	Chapter 1

Ghosted

_The sun was making its way down to the horizon when the patrol arrived. Four sets of four paws thudded against the ground near the stream. A series of angry hisses erupted at the sight of the Outsiders. The Outsiders in question had no idea that the patrol was there until the outburst. The three cats raised their heads from where they were drinking water._

_Two of them gave frightened squeaks before running away, spraying the grass with droplets in their wake. The third and the largest stayed behind. He wasn't small, by any means - but he was weak. The apprentice on the patrol snickered at the tom's bony frame._

"_Look," the apprentice laughed. "He even has a bell!"_

_The tomcat shrunk back and the bell around his throat gave a plaintive ring._

"_What do you say, Petalblaze?" one cat sneered, glancing at a cream tabby. "Can you take on this runt?"_

_The 'runt', despite his knocking legs, stood upright in the water. "I'm no runt!" he said indignantly._

_Petalblaze stepped forward with narrowed eyes. "I can take him on perfectly well, Fishfin," he spat at the brown tom._

_Fishfin's amber eyes gleamed. "Go on, then," he replied with a wide grin._

_The black tom's eyes widened as he saw the massive tom padding towards him. By the time Petalblaze's paws were dipping in the shallows, the intruder was halfway in the water. He was crouching and shivering._

"_Wait-" a white she-cat stepped forward. "This is barely a pile of sticks! Is it wise to waste our energy on him?"_

_The gray tabby apprentice fidgeted her paws as Fishfin glanced over with disdain. "Whitesnow, you forget the good that can come out of this," he said. "The Outsiders might as well continue to intrude on our land if we let this cat go. And besides - this is a good chance for Cinderpaw to learn a thing or two."_

_Cinderpaw's tail twitched sharply. Whitesnow looked away. Fishfin nodded at Petalblaze._

_A snarl, a splash - and the fight began._

_Petalblaze shot forward, aiming for the tom's ears. The cat stumbled back, barely missing the tabby's outstretched claws. Petalblaze fell into the water, drenching himself in it._

"_Lame!" Fishfin's taunt whistled through the warrior's ears. "Cinderpaw here can easily do better!"_

_The jingling of the bell didn't help matters in clearing his mind._

_Petalblaze's ears burned. He struggled back to his feet, almost slipping on the slippery ground underwater. The black cat stepped back into the stream, looking unsure as to whether he should help the floundering warrior or not._

_Petalblaze barely glanced up before lunging. The cat screamed as he hit the water, then it was only gurgles against a bubbling stream. Petalblaze held him there, paws on either side of the rope that held the bell. The rope pinned his victim, forcing large bubbles to come rushing out of his throat._

_Red began to slink out of where Petalblaze had pierced skin. The now-injured cat struck out at Petalblaze and managed to slice the tom's nose. The warrior winced but held strong; the watery blood began to blend in with the red leaves floating on the surface._

_Petalblaze's insides were on fire. His eyes held a ferocity. The black cat flailed weakly against his grip. The jingling was muffled by the water, and it stayed muffled until the paws knocking against Petalblaze's own stopped. They only drifted limply against the flow._

_At long last, Petalblaze loosened his grip. The body began moving with the water, shuffling alongside the riverbed. The bell clanged as it hit one of the rocks by the shore, then broke loose, weaving its way to shore._

"_You killed him." Whitesnow's voice was horrified._

_Cinderpaw gave Petalblaze a wide-eyed stare of shock._

"_One - one less Outsider to worry about." Even Fishfin's voice was uneven._

_Petalblaze made his way to the patrol before walking straight past them. Cinderpaw flinched back when Petalblaze's self-shaking caused a cascade of water._

_A low jingle made the cream tabby freeze. Then he moved on again. The patrol followed suit, Whitesnow bringing up the rear._

_The Outsider's body slipped away. Under the red sun, the golden bell shone with a bloody sheen._

GHOSTED

**Two moons later**

Petalblaze brushed aside the rotten leaves covering up his catch. A single vole wasn't much, but it was enough during leaf-fall, when the prey went somewhere else entirely. The elders said that Petalblaze should enjoy it while it lasted - leaf-bare would bring harsher colds and the prey would be scarcer.

Phah, as if he didn't know that already.

The limp rodent hung from his jaws as he padded back to camp. The tabby followed the shoreline - it was a surefire way not to get lost. Petalblaze gazed down at the gold-and-red leaves whirling in the cold water. The musky scent of rotten leaves hung in the air. Petalblaze scrunched up his nose. Despite the scent, however, this scenery was better than the frozen stream during leaf-bare, he supposed. He began to put some more energy in each step. The queens would be waiting for fresh-kill. Flamepool would be waiting for him. He gave a purr at his russet mate. She was always so eager to hear a story or two from him - even though a couple were made-up and had no truth to them. This time, he'd tell… Petalblaze considered for a moment, before deciding that he would tell Flamepool that he managed to catch this morsel on Outsider land - _without being caught. _His lip curled, revealing his fangs, into a toothy grin. That would entice her - and possibly a few apprentices as well.

A strange ringing sound interrupted his thoughts and his steps. Ringing? The tabby frowned, glancing around him. He hadn't heard that sort of sound since…

Reflexively, Petalblaze peered at the water. His face, distorted by the ripples the leaves made, stared back at him. And then - it changed. A black-furred face with startling green eyes screamed, voiceless, at him, jaws wide and bubbles streaming from the edges of his mouth. No - it _was_ screaming - a gurgling cry emerged directly from the water.

Petalblaze let out a screech of his own. The vole that fell from his jaws splashed into the water, shattering the image. A moment later, Petalblaze stumbled after his catch, his paws sending up leaf-ridden splashes as he went. The ear-shattering _ring-ring-ring _echoed in his ears. He plunged his mouth into the water, fishing out the now-dripping vole. Abruptly there was silence. Petalblaze's fur spiked up.

Petalblaze was cautious when returning to the shore. He peered into the water, but all he saw was drifting leaves and his scared expression. The scent of the rotting leaves penetrated his nose as he lumbered towards home - fur spiked up and partially wet.

He froze when he heard a dull _thud-thud _behind him.

_Maybe it's just Mist-tail being a grump,_ he tried to convince himself. Petalblaze chanced a look behind. The streambed was empty apart from a few scattered, dappled leaves. Petalblaze held his breath. He doubted that even though he was putting up a brave face it would mask his racing heart.

Another thud sent him running.

"It's wet," Flamepool noted when he entered camp. "And you are, too." The she-cat rested her muzzle against his shoulder. "What happened? You think it was fun to take a swim during winter?" she teased. "In all due seriousness, Petalblaze - you could get a cold."

Petalblaze didn't relax against her touch. He padded on, pausing only to plop the soggy vole on the fresh-kill pile.

"You know, Risingsun says that I should stop moving around so much," Flamepool puffed as she followed him. "I think it's the kits. They're lively, you know."

Petalblaze spared a look at Flamepool's well-rounded stomach. She purred again. Petalblaze didn't respond to it - he simply nodded and shambled over to the warriors den. He could feel Flamepool's hurt gaze burning on his back.

He stepped into his mossy nest, curling his tail over his nose. The warrior couldn't close his eyes, however. He stared outside, trying to understand what had happened.

That face - it was the face of the cat he'd drowned two moons before. It was that kit. It had to be. But how? Petalblaze had _seen _him die. He'd _caused _the tom to die.

The tabby tom buried his face into his paws. Good StarClan - had the kit come back to _haunt _him? No - it couldn't be. Ghosts weren't real.

The scent of leaves drifted to him. A chill slid down the warrior's spine.

GHOSTED

Petalblaze tried to avoid the stream. But that was hard, considering that the stream was what outlined the territory of MazeClan. He sat in camp for days, pondering without rest. His clanmates slowly began to avoid him, whispering about how he'd suddenly changed with the beginning of leaf-bare.

Flamepool could only watch with her green eyes as her mate withered away before her own face. But Petalblaze paid no attention to any concerned mews and snarky sneers. All he knew was that the ghost was out there. He saw the green eyes, the black face. He heard the echo of the bell in his ears at all times.

Petalblaze sought an answer for the remainder of leaf-bare.

The answer to his plight came when the first snow began to fall.

GHOSTED

Petalblaze assured himself that he was fine. The clan assumed he was fine. He performed his duties day by day, he visited his mate in the nursery, and he continued to bring in a steady stream of food.

But he refused to go to the stream. He only drank water from soaked moss. He didn't go hunting when it rained, even when it was a slight drizzle. No water, it seemed, was allowed near him.

"Please, Petalblaze!" Birdpaw wheedled. "One trip can't hurt."

The cream tabby returned his apprentice's gaze with an icy glare. "I said no, Birdpaw. No means no."

"But Leafpaw said that her mentor began training her on fishing last moon, and they're going to practice hunting near the stream today," Birdpaw complained. "The water'll be frozen over soon, and then I'll have to wait 'till _Greenleaf!"_

"And so you will," Petalblaze retorted. "I am not going to the stream."

The black apprentice gave her mentor a mutinous glare before stomping off. Petalblaze exhaled. He hadn't taken care of himself recently. He didn't have to look into a puddle to know that his fur was rumpled.

He hadn't seen the black face of his killed. Ever since he stopped any water from coming to him within a few fox-lengths, anyway. Petalblaze flexed his claws in apprehension. The silence was… actually unnerving. He expected the ghost to appear any moment - yet it never did. The strange, watery leaf scent that accompanied it was also absent - of course. No more water, no more leaves - the only sight of what had been red and gold were everywhere now in brown clumps as leaf-fall had come to an end.

Petalblaze unsheathed and sheathed his claws again. His fur spiked up in tufts.

Leaf-fall. It was leaf-_bare_ now. Petalblaze had missed the entirety of leaf-fall. He raised his head - surely, now it was fine to head to the stream. It was frozen. It had to be. The icicles hanging from the warriors den spoke of it.

"Birdpaw!" he called. "I changed my mind."

The black molly whipped her head around, eyes wide. "Stream?" she mewed.

"Stream ho we go," Petalblaze agreed. The tabby rose to his paws, stepping onto the crunchy snow. Birdpaw bounced beside him, her eyes wide.

"What made you change your mind?" she asked.

Petalblaze shrugged. "I haven't seen it in a while, I suppose," he admitted.

Birdpaw chattered the entire time they walked, but to Petalblaze there was only silence. The spirit couldn't come to him during leaf-bare. His delight made him blind to all sounds.

"I'll go find Leafpaw," Birdpaw gushed. "I can't believe you actually came here!" The black apprentice shot off without waiting for approval.

Petalblaze rumbled in amusement. He glanced at the frozen water. Then he bent over to peer at the ice.

_Thud._

He jerked backwards.

_Thud._

He shakily looked to his right, then his left.

_Thud._

It was… coming from right before him. The tabby looked at the ice again.

There, under the ice - very clearly - shone two green eyes and a screaming maw.

Petalblaze screamed. He screamed like he'd never screamed before. The next thing he knew, two paws had slammed into him, knocking him backwards. The air rushed out of his lungs and he only could huff - _Oh stars the ghost had come to kill him at last_ \- and he looked up.

Blue eyes glared hatred at him.

_Wait, but his eyes were-_

No more thoughts sped through his head.

GHOSTED

He awoke in the golden fields the elders had described once too many times. The Midway, of course. He was dead, and by all accounts he wasn't good in moral sense.

Petalblaze stumbled to his paws, squinting in the amber light of the sun. A black silhouette greeted him. Petalblaze couldn't do anything but stare at the green-eyed cat sitting before him.

"Well," the cat mewed, "what do you have to say to me?"

The words came rushing out of his mouth. "I'm sorry - I'm so - so - sorry," he sobbed. Petalblaze's entire form crumbled to the ground, curling up and flattening his ears.

The black cat trotted over and pressed his nose against the older cat's fur.

"Wh-why did you haunt me?" Petalblaze asked in a muffled voice. "I know I did wrong but - I've never heard of a cat haunting the other-"

"That wasn't me," the surprised tom replied. "I never once came to you in the real world."

Petalblaze raised his head. He looked at the cat who he had suspected to be a ghost for a moon.

"But then - " Petalblaze faltered. "But then, if it wasn't you - who did?"

The question soared through the sun, over it, then into the beyond.


End file.
